Sat 05 May 2007Arise and follow KeanoSunderland's success story, featuring a largely Irish cast, may
lure Irish fans to beat a path to England's north-east, writes
Richard Gillis.There are several ways in to the Sunderland story. The team's
ascent in a few short months from the nether regions of the
Championship to promotion to the Premier League was a remarkable
turnaround. The human interest angle is equally compelling: how
long before Niall Quinn and Roy Keane's big adventure is undermined
by the schism of Saipan? And then there are the money men, the
mysterious Drumaville consortium of predominantly Irish
businessmen, who bet on red and black, and got lucky.